Open Recommendations

ASPR should continue to work with CMS to help health care entities comply with the CMS emergency preparedness CoPs.

ASPR should clarify HPP guidance that HCCs’ membership should ensure strategic, comprehensive coverage of their communities’ gaps in preparedness and response.

ASPR should identify ways to incentivize core member participation in HCCs.

Identify individuals having specialized role-based responsibilities for PII or activities involving PII and develop role-based privacy training for them.

Based on NRC’s supply chain risk assessment results, complete updates to the NRC’s contingency planning policies and procedures to address supply chain risk training for them.

We recommend that the BLM determine if the CHS has created a step in its financial system to ensure that the agreement is not automatically charged for intern training costs, regardless of their attendance.

We recommend that the Bureau of Human Resources, in coordination with the Telework Managing Officer develop controls to ensure supervisors complete telework training prior to managing teleworkers.

We recommend that the Bureau of Human Resources, in coordination with the Telework Managing Officer develop controls to ensure written telework agreements are executed by the employee and supervisor prior to teleworking.

We recommend that the Bureau of Human Resources, in coordination with the Telework Managing Officer perform an initial evaluation of the Railroad Retirement Board’s telework program in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management’s Guide to Telework in the Federal Government, the Government Accountability Office’s Key Practices to Increasing Federal Telework, and the Railroad Retirement Board’s Work-At-Home Program policy.

We recommend that the Bureau of Human Resources, in coordination with the Telework Managing Officer update the Railroad Retirement Board’s Work-At-Home Program policy to include clear and specific requirements for evaluation of the telework program, both for the individual teleworker and for the Railroad Retirement Board as a whole, including frequency, documentation, and reporting requirements.

We recommend that the Bureau of Information Services update Administrative Circular Information Resources Management (IRM)-16 to ensure its accuracy and compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations.

OIG recommends that the Global Engagement Center implement to the extent feasible the results of the staffing needs assessment conducted in response to Recommendation 1.

Implement a system that is accessible to both the EPA and the applicants to track the processing of all tribal-New-Source-Review permits and key permit dates, including application received, application completed, draft permit issued, public comment period (if applicable), and final permit issuance.

Establish and implement an oversight process to verify that the regions update the tribal-New-Source-Review permit tracking system on a periodicbasis with the correct and required information.

We recommend the FWS develop and implement an action plan to require States that have not reconciled their records of lands purchased with Program funds for more than 5 years to do so by a specific date.

We recommend the FWS establish and implement controls and timelines to ensure real property records are reconciled in a timely manner.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services increase the number of postpayment reviews of IPF claims to provide IPFs with more feedback on their compliance with Medicare requirements.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reassess the current CMS reimbursement policy for administrative necessary days that meet inpatient coverage requirements because the beneficiary has not met his or her discharge requirements to determine payment accuracy and effects on beneficiaries.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services promulgate regulations to require that each IPF should have a policy compliant with State law to protect and promote the patient’s right to make informed decisions that includes standards for documenting the patient’s ability to make informed decisions.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services research whether the physician certification and recertification requirements are useful in preventing inappropriate payments and: - if they are useful, continue to enforce them but - if they are not useful, take the steps necessary to eliminate or amend those requirements.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, while the certification requirements remain in place, revise regulations or guidance to IPFs to require that physician certifications and recertifications be in a specific form, format, or language.

We recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services determine whether patient in-hospital fall rates should be added to the IPFQR program and whether CMS should require present-on-admission indicators on claims as an aid to tracking in-hospital falls.

We recommend that Residential Home Health for the estimated $2,068,902 overpayment for claims that are outside of the Medicare reopening period, exercise reasonable diligence in identifying and returning overpayments in accordance with the 60-day rule, and identify any returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation.

We recommend that Residential Home Health exercise reasonable diligence to identify and return any additional similar overpayments outside of our audit period, in accordance with the 60-day rule, and identify any returned overpayments as having been made in accordance with this recommendation.

We recommend that Residential Home Health strengthen its procedures to ensure that the homebound statuses of Medicare beneficiaries are verified and continually monitored and the specific factors qualifying beneficiaries as homebound are documented and beneficiaries are receiving only reasonable and necessary skilled services.